In the prior art, different vendors such as Siemens, Fanuc, Heidenhein, Mitsubishi, Bosch-Rexrodt are providing control devices (such as CNC units) for controlling operation of a numerically controlled machine tool which may typically comprise a numerical controller (also referred to as NC), a programmable logic controller (also referred to as PLC), first storage means for storing data (NC and/or PLC data), the first storage means comprising one or more PLC registers of the programmable logic controller and one or more NC registers of the numerical controller, first processing means for executing a first operating system on the basis of data stored in the first storage means, and a communication interface utilizing a vendor-specific interface language protocol and a vendor-specific internal NC/PLC communication protocol, and being communicably connected to the numerical controller, the programmable logic controller and the first storage means by means of the internal NC/PLC communication protocol.
Usually, machine tool builders must choose a CNC unit form among plural different CNC units or even plural CNC unit vendors. For example, it may be necessary to select a specific CNC unit according to the customer's requirements and according to the cost performance. On the other hand, machine tool builders are typically trying to put their original or special functions to the CNC units to increase the value-added functions in comparison to functions available for the specific CNC units or to keep common operability for the operation of the machines independent of specific CNC units or CNC unit vendors.
In addition, technical expects for machining are decreasing in the fields of machining industries, and it becomes increasingly difficult to recognize the differences in operation, handling and use of CNC units of different type and vendor and to know the characteristics of each available CNC unit in the market to keep the machining accuracy on a high level.
As any efficient solution for the above problems, it is necessary to provide a common operability for different types of CNC units and different CNC units of different vendors so that the amount of knowledge required for operating CNC units and CNC machine tools is reduced. Specifically, it is desirable to make it easier to operate plural machines by providing common standardized operability devices for CNC control which can be used for all types of CNC units which are themselves not standardized among CNC units and CNC unit vendors. More specifically, it is desirable to provide a common API (application programming interface) for CNC units manufactured by different manufacturers.